


We Can Call it Even (Even Though I'm Leaving)

by Darkmagyk



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bittersweet, Breakup, Canonical Character Death, Christmas, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Kid Fic, sad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28424451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkmagyk/pseuds/Darkmagyk
Summary: Piper and Jason have one last Christmas together.Life goes on for her. And Christmas does too.
Relationships: Jason Grace & Piper McLean, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Piper McLean & Leo Valdez
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22
Collections: Percabeth Discord Secret Santa





	We Can Call it Even (Even Though I'm Leaving)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Percabeth Discord](https://discord.gg/PDZPgSN)'s Secret Santa.
> 
> This was the prompt: I'd like a oneshot to be about Piper and Jason, their last time Christmas together before he dies. Then flash forward and to Piper at his funeral, her christmas alone without him. Sad story.
> 
> Piper/Jason is not a ship I really gravitate towards. I'm sorry if this isn't up to snuff.

Piper’s fingers had ghosted over Jason’s chest a hundred times. Even in those first few weeks, when questions of memories and histories had hung between them during a budding relationship, it hadn’t been this awkward.

But break ups did that.

Break ups and broken ribs.

Piper tried to pay attention to the blooming bruises as she tapped up his rib. They hadn’t brought enough ambrosia for this little fight, and she wasn’t going to be able to drive Jason to Coach Hedge’s healing magic and sports medicine if even the slightest uneven pavement caused him so much pain.

“So,” She offered, trying to be casual, “what are your plans for Christmas?”

“Edgarton has a program for kids who can’t go home.” Jason said, “Or don’t really have one, as the case may be.”

He said it so casually, that it almost didn’t sound like it was as horribly heartbreaking as it was.

“You aren’t going to see Thalia?” Piper asks.

Jason laughed, and then winced when that clearly upset his broken ribs, “I am pretty sure that priestesses of Diana aren’t allowed to celebrate Christian holidays. And honestly, it isn’t really my thing either. I thought about seeing about going to New Rome for Saturnalia. But I don’t know. After I choose the Greeks, I don’t know if I’m ready for that, exactly.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

Once, when Piper had been in middle school, the boarding school she’d been at had had a program like that. Her dad had been working in Australia and Piper had been shuffled off to a host program for the holidays. She’d lasted 3 days. She’d been kicked out of their house, and the school.

“Are you going to stay with one of the teacher’s families, or something?” Jason could probably use a little traditional family, down home Christmas. For a boy who had never had it, he was made for a white picket fence and 2.3 children sort of Christmas card. 

“No, they just leave the dorms open and drop off meals.

“Oh,” That sounded pretty bad, so she smiled, “I bet you’re going to spend the whole time in the library.” She hadn’t known that last year, at camp, how much Jason enjoyed school and studying.

Jason’s mouth scrunched up in a pout. “No,” he said, “library is closed. The librarian gets a break too.”

“You’re going to just sit alone at your empty school for two weeks?”

“I think it’s three and a half.” Jason said, smiling, “And I won’t be alone, I think Matt Sloan will be there.”

“You hate Matt Sloan,” Piper pointed out. “I hate Matt Sloan. Everyone hates Matt Sloan, he’s the worst.” He was the worst kind of sleaze, who had always given Piper looks she did not at all appreciate. He’d stopped when Piper made him, or Jason wolf glared, but even magic powers couldn’t control him for long.

“And a couple of freshmen,” Jason added defensively, “And I am allowed to keep books from the library over the whole break. Tomorrow I’m going to check out a bunch.”

“Yeah, ok,” Piper said, as she finished her first aid, and then borrowed a car to drive back to her dad’s house, where Couch Hedge finished patching Jason up, and then sent him on his way.

But the whole thing weighed on her. And by the time she’d woken up the next morning, she had made a decision.

“You should spend Christmas break with us,” She said to Jason by way of a greeting on the Iris Message.

“Um, what?”

“It's… you shouldn’t spend Christmas, or even an extended period of time by yourself at school with only Matt Sloan for company. You can come and hang out with us.”

“I…” He frowned, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” He could have given her about a million reasons why that was the case, but he landed on one she didn’t expect, “You know I’ve never celebrated before. I don’t want to throw off the vibe or make things weird.”

Piper actually laughed, “Coach and Mellie haven’t celebrated either,” she said. Mellie hadn’t even wanted to take the day off when her dad had offered it. When you were literal manifestations of ancient Greek religions, there wasn’t much use in celebrating the birth of Christ, even with a secular bent. “But they’re going to spend it with us this year. And the more, the merrier.”

Jason took very little convincing and her father even less. He really liked Jason, and had been all sad when they broke up. The twinkle in his eye made her think he hoped this was a sign of things being fixed. He was a hopeless romantic at the best of times.

Sometimes Piper couldn’t believe her father had won the affections of a love goddess, even just for a bit. But other times it was all too easy to see.

Then she went to find Jason a Christmas present. Mellie had said she’d pick a few other things up, once she finished combing through some weird stuff she had seen in Piper’s dad’s financial statements.

Piper was pretty good at gift giving, if she said so herself. She was great at seeing a little something and knowing exactly how it would mesh with a person. She wondered if it was a gift of Aphrodite these days, a gift of insight and knowing people’s hearts.

So when she had had the time, she set out to figure out what to get her boyfriend for Christmas in November, and had no ideas. Well, all her existing concerns, fears of predetermination and control and also that thought that her lab partner Sasha was really cute, had come out of her late-night musings to rest in her head all the time. And after she’d spent a weekend wandering through all the best stores and bouquets that Los Angeles had to offer and not any of it had properly reflected her feelings for Jason, she’d known the end was inevitable. She’d broken things off by Thanksgiving. 

But with renewed vigor, she searched again. It was strange how it worked like that. Without the burden of a relationship, without trying to figure out her own feelings and force them into a gift, she got him something very nice.

He came over a couple of days before Christmas, and settled in like old times, when he’d stayed with them when they first got back from looking for Leo. He still had some stuff in the guest suite, and he knew where they kept the milk and silverware in the kitchen.

He brought a present for her dad, one for Coach and Mellie and baby Chuck, and he put two boxes wrapped in purple paper and poorly tied with a ribbon under the tree, the little sticker saying, “to: Piper, from: Jason.”

They ordered cookies from that nice bakery, eating up the gooey icing and delicately created trees. Then they made a set of break and back’s themselves, and Jason drew a very accurate wolf on one of his. Her dad was so impressed by the art, he didn’t even think to point out that it wasn’t very Christmassy.

Her dad played Christmas music in the house 24/7 in the week leading up to Christmas, and he did seem a little baffled at the fact that only Piper knew any of the words. “Don’t you know this one?” He’d say, after _Run, Run Rudolph_ , and _Christmas Wrappings_ , and _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_. At least with _Little Drummer Boy_ and _We Three Kings_ , he accepted that it was a religious thing.

They watched all the movies from Piper’s Childhood. _Home Alone_ reminded Jason of Leo, and when her dad had left the room, he speculated openly about if Charles Dickens had been a demigod. And Jim Henson, too. Coach really liked Rudolph. They watched all the Hallmark classics. Normally, Piper liked that, but her dad kept glancing between her and Jason during them. And Mellie openly asked where Jesus was repeatedly, because wasn’t that the point of Christmas?

It was a fun time.

On Christmas Eve, Piper and Jason sat together on the love seat as Love Actually played on the screen. They were only about six inches apart, but it felt like a chasm that ran miles deep. She looked at Jason and tried to see him with eyes from a year ago. They had been on the bus of the Wilderness School, and she’d been sure she was in love. Jason was beautiful. His blond hair, his almost supernaturally blue eyes, his sharp jaw and high cheekbones. Her dad had offered a couple times to connect him with some agents about modeling or acting.

And yet, Piper, sitting so close, feeling all the tension in the world, didn’t want him. She loved him, dearly. He was probably her best friend in the world, even more than Leo these days, but she didn’t regret breaking up with him.

Even after she found him sneaking glances at her through all the most romantic scenes.

She was at peace with her choice, she thought, but still, something about it hurt her heart.

She slept in on Christmas morning. It was early afternoon before they circled the tree to exchange presents.

It was all pretty standard fare, but she was pleased as she handed the little wrapped gift to Jason.

“Thanks, Piper.” He said, holding up his gold watch and examining it.

“Oh, that’s a nice one,” Her dad said, “Did you use my credit card?”

She nodded; she’d been trying to be better about it. And it was only six thousand dollars, so it was within her normal Christmas allowance. The clean lines and Roman (ha) numerals had made her think of Jason. They looked like it would go with his personal style: togas as a visiting Pontifex Maximus or orange Camp shirt. It could carry him through it all. She was very proud of it.

He smiled at her, sweet and genuine, and then passed her her gifts.

“Um… I hope these are ok. I got them… a while ago.” Which probably meant, ‘before we broke up.’

Piper opened the box on top, first, and tried not to make a slightly distressed sound when it was revealed to be a jewelry box. That was _such_ a boyfriend gift.

She opened the lid, and frowned for just a moment, trying to work out what it was.

A bracelet of chain links. A charm bracelet, with a little square of silver and light teal that said-- “Tiffany’s?” Oh gods.

“I um…I managed to get my hands on some of my mom’s effects,” Jason said, “this was um, the least tacky bit of jewelry she owned, I think.”

Piper touched through each of the charms in turn. Two silver lightning bolts, a platinum heart with a large pink stone in the middle she suspected was a diamond, a little tag shaped of white gold with the word grace stamped into it, a dove, inlaid with its own cluster of glittering white diamonds, and what looked like a smooth, uneven chunk of green resting on a bit of thing silver wire, different then the rest of the bracelet and charms.

“ _I_ got the dove for you. The lightning bolts were more of my mom’s, um, deal,” He added, “But for you, well, a dove seemed appropriate.”

“A peace offering is a beautiful thing.” Her dad said, but Piper understood.

It was so sweetly perfect. So intimate and loving, that Piper could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

“Thalia didn’t want this?” She asked. Because surely, surely Jason didn’t want to give this to _her_. Not after everything.

“Thalia doesn’t want anything to do with our mother,” Jason’s grimace seeped into his voice. Piper knew that, of course, Thalia barely wanted to use their mother’s last name. But still. “And the um, the sea glass is from um… that trip we took to the beach right after Halloween. I IMed a friend from San Francisco and he talked me through making it.”

A date, their last beach date. They’d picked up sea glass on the beach. And Jason had made it a charm for her.

“I…” How did she respond to this? How did her impersonal watch hope to compare? “Thank you,” She said lamely, because she didn’t have anything else.

“I can help you put it on,” Mellie offered.

“Um, thanks,” she said, holding out her wrist. It felt almost traitorous to wear it, but she wanted to.

She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to say. If this was a movie, she’d kiss Jason. She’d know that she was wrong all along. He was the perfect man.

Because he was clearly the perfect man.

But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to do that, or she felt like she should do that. And that alone held her at bay.

Until all the quiet tension was broken by her dad’s cry of “oh, Chuck, no.”

The baby satyr was trying to eat the wrapping paper.

And covering for the mortal while trying to keep the baby who could eat plenty of paper happy was a perfect solution to keep Piper from having to work out the hard truths from the easy fictions of her life.

She had time.

***

Jason Grace had a large state funeral fit for a hero of Rome and Olympus. Piper McLean was in Oklahoma when that happened. And she didn’t have her own funeral for her dearly departed friend for a long long while.

It was Leo’s third night. She and Shel had taken him out to a party last night and much merriment was had by all. But this was something different.

Grandpa Tom’s house sparkled with lights she and her dad had put up themselves, and yet as she and Leo sat on the roof, looking up at the stars, things felt cold and dark.

It was here that they held their own, personal funeral.

They had known Jason for only little over a year, but it felt like so much. And they seemed to have an endless well of stories to tell about him.

And when it was done, she slid a watch over to Leo. A gift she’d liberated with his plans for New Rome and a few other personal effects. He’d given a few things to Thalia when she’d come through a few months ago. And another to Reyna, who had been with her.

She wasn’t sure why she was giving the watch to Leo.

“This has really nice mechanics.”

“It was the worst gift I ever gave, Jason,” Piper said, “I have no idea if he ever even wore it, probably not. I never saw him do any such thing.”

“For Christmas,” Leo offered, even as he slipped the watch on his wrist, where it probably never sat on Jason’s, “it’s the thought that counts.”

“Sure,” Piper said, “For Christmas. Tis the damn season.” 

***

“Gracie, love, be careful.”

Grace was 3 years old and more enchanted by fire than anything else in the whole world. She often had to be reminded that it _would_ hurt her. Right now, she was staring at the burning logs in the fireplace. The grate was in place, because Leo did actually take fire safety very seriously. But Gracie was dexterous for her age and could probably open the little metal door with not too much trouble.

Piper was on toddler-sitting duty while Percy and Leo and Hazel whipped up a Solstice feast for the gods. Ruby Zhang was probably doing the five-year-old version of ‘helping,’ and baby Chase was probably strapped to Percy’s chest. Frank was walking the dogs. Nico had been sent for some last-minute supplies. Annabeth was on older-kid sitting duty. Will was asleep, because being an intern sucked, even when you had magic doctor powers.

Piper liked her job the best.

Lester fell asleep during _Alvin and the Chipmunks_ , and Emily didn’t make it through all of _Mickey's Christmas Carol_. Sophia was still watching _Gingerbread Wars_ with her too keen grey eyes. But Gracie was just looking at the fire.

“I like fire, Auntie Pip,” Was her only response.

“I know you do, love,” Piper said. “It's because of your grandpa and your papa, and that’s awesome. But it could hurt, too. So, we have to be careful.” She picked Grace up, and walked back over to the couch, sitting with her on her lap. “So, let’s go back to watching the show with Sophie.”

“The workmanship is shoddy.” Sophie announced to her friend, her dark eyebrows drawn in a frown.

“Do you know what that means?” Piper asked, trying not to laugh.

“Mama says it.” Is Sophia’s answer. That was her answer for a lot of things. Then the gingerbread house in question collapsed on screen.

Grace was already looking longingly back at the fireplace.

“If you don’t want to watch this,” Piper offered, “Want to go and see what Aunt Annabeth is doing with the big kids?”

It was probably some sort of scary craft project. She had said something about stockings. But Piper suspected that meant less ‘decorate cheap ones from the store with glitter’ and more ‘intricately weave holiday patterns and perfectly knitted socks.’

Gracie shook her head, though Sophie looked interested.

Annabeth’s big kid sitting duty might be better described as keeping her oldest daughters’ minds and hands busy enough to not lead the littler ones in armed rebellion against the adults. Lucy and Thalassa would probably show up before dinner to hang a scary number of stockings above the fireplace. Leo had speculated that the real reason for the Athena/Poseidon animosity was to discourage cross mixing for the bloodlines. Because those kids were just a little bit terrifying. 

As if to illustrate that point, Sophie made another disparaging comment about someone’s gingerbread house. Such practices had never been the purview of the Argo II’s Solstice Reunion celebration. But Piper kind of wanted to see what sort of Cookie Monstrosities Annabeth and her kids might come up with if it was added. 

“We can sit closer to the fire.” Piper agreed, after a second. But she didn’t put Gracie down, just walking to the plush chair closest, and keeping Grace in her lap. 

She still didn’t love how taken with the dancing flames her goddaughter was. Just to distract her, she reached up and brushed her dark hair back from her face, and she could see Grace’s brown eyes shift to the silver charm bracelet around her wrist. Like she was still a baby distracted by dangling keys. 

Piper lowered her hand, but didn’t protest when Grace started tracing the charms and bracelet with her small fingers. 

Piper had once dangled a vintage Tiffany and Co. bracelet in the face of an infant to keep her entertained. It actually brought a smile to her heart, that it was still doing just that. 

Her fingers traced at the little tag, the letters stamped on it still clear: _grace_. 

“Do you like it?” Piper asked. 

“It doesn’t click.”

“It's not a watch,” Piper said, “it isn’t mechanical.” 

“What’s it for?” 

That was a million drachma question, wasn’t it. Why did Piper wear the bracelet of a tragic dead starlet? Why did Piper wear her ex boyfriend, long dead and longer broken up’s last name around her wrist. 

“It's pretty.” Piper said. “And sometimes small things mean a lot.”

“Like what?”

“Like…” PIper considered, and then reached out to trace the tag with her own fingers, “like this, do you know what these letters mean?”

Gracie shook her head. Precocious or not, demigods weren’t known for their early reading abilities. 

“It spells a word, _grace_.”

“That’s me.” 

“It is,” Piper agreed, “This once belonged to the person you’re named after.” 

“Uncle Jason,” Gracie crowed, pleased to know the answer. 

“Exactly.” 

“But it isn’t your name, so why do you wear it?”

Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, knew you had to follow your heart. 

Piper McLean, daughter of Triston McLean, knew sometimes you had to follow the emotions of a scene, and just see where those choices took you. 

“I haven’t found the right person to share it with.” But she knew it was a lie as she spoke the words. 

Much fun was had by all that night, and Piper gave all the kids their presents to a great deal of fanfare. 

She has a few other things saved for Gracie for Christmas, which they celebrated in due time. 

It was a smaller one. Not the whole crew, but a smaller, closer, family thing. 

She watched with delight as Gracie went through her presents from Santa and then destroyed some very lovely wrapping paper. 

She didn’t give her her last gift until after their Christmas dinner. 

She’d gotten it cleared with Leo before she’d made the purchase. So she swept her god daughter away from the already quiet celebration, and presented her with a little box. 

Gracie was at the age where bigger meant better. So she didn’t know what to make of it. 

But it was clear she recognized the tag charm when she opened it. 

“My name, right?”

“Right,” Piper nodded. “Like you said, it isn’t my name, it is yours, so I thought it was time to share it.” 

The chain wasn’t Tiffany’s, because Gracie was three. But she fully intended to buy her a proper one when she was old enough. 

“This one,” She said, pointing to the sea glass, “Means a lot to me. And one day, when you’re older, I’m going to teach you how to surf. Uncle Percy might claim he is going to, but he only knows how to do it with magic. I know how to do it for normal people.” 

“And these two,” She said, “are new, I got them just for you.” 

“Granpa.” Gracie said, “And Papa.” 

“Exactly,” Piper agreed, “A hammer and a flame.”

She’d debated one or the other, but she’d eventually decided on both. Gracie’s bracelet deserved to be a reflection of herself, as much as it was a reflection of Piper’s love and hopes for the future. 

Grace reached out and flicked at Piper’s slightly less jingly bracelet. 

“Now we match.” 

“Now we’re going to match,” Piper agreed.

She felt tears prick her eyes, like when she’d first gotten her bracelet. 

“One day, Gracie,” She said, “You’re going to understand what this means to me. And all the Christmas bullshit is going to make sense.” 

Gracie was already asleep. 

Piper laid her in her bed, and left the bracelet on her dresser, for the future.


End file.
